An easy creamy cheesecake made with brown sugar and chocolate chips. Super yummy!

This is typical of a French homemade cake - dense, dark, and delicious. The texture is very different from a sponge cake, and it is excellent dusted with confectioners’ sugar and served with whipped cream.

I’m still clearing out the cobwebs from Savor, and am in the process of taking my raw video footage and editing it. But here’s a quick rundown. Andy Crouch has a great writeup of this first-ever event, I’d recommend you read it.

The 75 year-old Mellon Auditorium was impressive, definitely the coolest location I’ve seen for a beer festival. The event was sold out (700 tickets for each session), and I enjoyed the relatively small size. The small number of attendees allowed us to talk a little bit with each consumer and I met some wonderful DC-area folks.

Flying Dog had our Kerberos Tripel paired with these Peking Duck purses and our Gonzo Imperial Porter paired with wonderful artisan chocolates with raspberry filling. The number of dishes that breweries were allowed to use was on the small side, which allowed for various beers to be paired with the same food. I thought it was nice that this was the case, because the fact is that many different styles of beer can be paired with similar foods.

Another cool thing about the festival is that the Brewer’s Association gave out these great tasting journals as part of your entry fee. Among the 100 or so pages for you to enter your tasting notes were some recipes and suggested pairings, along with a few pages showing pairing options for a wide variety of beer styles.

I’ll have some videos of the even coming up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

What about you guys who also attended Savor? Any remarks?

Whole almonds are surrounded by a ricotta cheese and coconut mixture and coated with white chocolate to make ’snowballs’ you can enjoy any time of year.

Better than already prepared types because you can adjust it to your taste. I use the bulk baggie spices in the Mexican food aisle, they’re so much less expensive and taste great!

A very different pie than the traditional pumpkin pie. Originally submitted to ThanksgivingRecipe.com.

Very moist and rich. A favorite of my two grown sons. It keeps very well.

This is an easy recipe for a cream cheese and chopped beef log rolled in pecans.

Ideal buttercream for frosting and borders.

I’m just about to leave the brewery in Frederick, and am on my way down to Savor. I’ll be in attendance all 3 sessions and will be moblogging from the floor. I’ll also be shooting High-Definition video, and will be posting some awesome shit from this first-ever event! Check these various areas for your fill of live updates for the next 36 hours:

Flying Dog Brewery’s Twitter page - I’ll have short updates as they happen, with some assorted low resolution photos. If you’re a twitterer, use the @flyingdog tag and I should be able to get your updates.

Flying Dog Brewery’s Flickr Page - I’ll periodically be sending photos of various events on the fly as well. I’ll be checking the comments all the time, so if you have any suggestions, post a comment!

Not a twitter or flickr user? Email me your thoughts to joshm [at] flyingdogales [dot] com and I’ll religiously be checking my mail as we go.

BEER AND FOOD!

This cake is very moist, but my grandmother never added an icing. She made a cinnamon glaze.

This mouth watering banana cake is a favorite with kids. With its chocolate-nut topping, it’s a nice alternative to banana bread.

These strawberries are made from strawberry flavored gelatin, coconut and colored sugar crystals.

An easy cake using a white cake mix, and moistened with a creamy coconut sauce. You may reduce the amount of sauce if you prefer, and it will still be delicious.

I got this recipe from my Aunt Sandy and it is delicious! Plan ahead, because this recipe needs to chill overnight.

A hearty soup, packed with lentils, smoked vegetarian sausage, onion, cabbage, and tomatoes.

Mayonnaise makes this cake nice and moist.

I’m spending the week out at our Brewery in Frederick, Maryland in preparation for Savor. Last night, some of the Flying Dog team went out to a wonderful beer dinner at The Reef in Adams Morgan. Eric Warner himself was in attendance and the food was exquisite. We’ll have more on this event later, but the Ahi Tuna Sashimi with Avocado Tempura paired with Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale was unreal. I never thought about making tempura out of avocado but when I get home, I’m totally rocking that shit.

Anyone going to Savor this weekend? Thoughts?

This is the cake my family always traditionally took on picnics and any other family get-together. Cream may be substituted for the milk for a richer cake.

My mother makes this each Christmas. Many of my relatives freeze the custard and eat it with a spoon.

Just fresh tomatoes, onion, tomato puree and olive oil in this quick, simple sauce.

My grandmother’s best friend, Garnet Connor, used to make this cake a very long time ago.

A chocolaty take on the classic Italian cream cake.

Apples, pears, cranberries, and onion are simmered with orange juice and cider vinegar and sweetened with sugar and cinnamon for a great cranberry sauce option.

Tastes just like a gob!